Bellator 69 took place at L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La., and aired on MTV2 and Spike.com.

Spang tagged Falcao early with the punch and nearly ended the fight with a follow-up flurry. But Falcao wisely tied the fight up, and from there, he took near-complete control.

Pounding away at the downed Spang’s back, Falcao dominated the fight. He also mistimed a knee as the Swede righted himself, which prompted a stop in action and a point deduction for the blatantly illegal strike.

The setback, however, did little to stop Falcao from resuming his attack on Spang. Taking the fighter down over and over again, he dodged submission attempts with jiu-jitsu throws and tenderized his opponent’s backside and flanks with punches.

At the end of the fight, Falcao mounted Spang and put a period on his domination.

“I’ve got the best gym in the world,” Falcao said through a translator. “I’ve got the best grappling coach in the world; there’s no way I can’t get better. I want to dedicate this fight to all the Bellator staff who believed in me.”

Falcao (31-4 MMA, 3-0 BFC) improves his current win streak to four after a submission setback in his home country in late 2011. Spang (8-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC), meanwhile, sees a three-fight streak snapped.
Amoussou survives late rally from David Rickels to advance

Karl Amoussou sure has a lot more respect for David Rickels than before.

After being on the end of Rickels’ punches for most of the third round, and walking from the bout with a massively swollen left eye, Amoussou knew he had been in a tough fight.

Still, work he did in the first two frames was enough in two judges eyes to earn him a decision and punch his ticket to the finals of the season-six welterweight tournament opposite Bryan Baker.

Amoussou could understand, however, when Rickels threw his water bottle down in disgust upon the announcement of the decision.

“I think he won the third, I think I won the first, and the second was really close,” the Frenchman said afterward. “I would like to really congratulate David. He really earned my respect. David, I’m really sorry for you for the decision.”

A wardrobe malfunction almost ended the bout before it began. A brushing kick from Rickels not only caught Amoussou’s cup, but broke its connecting strap. That prompted the referee to comically ask officials to search backstage for another fighter’s cup. Thankfully, that unsanitary option wasn’t needed when Bellator’s cutman used duct tape to re-affix the protector, and the bout was ready to go.

Amoussou immediately picked up where he left off and swept Rickels to the mat with an explosive throw. He struggled mightily to mount any offense, and the two were soon stood up. The action quickly returned to the mat with a second toss from Amoussou, and the round ended with a flurry of punches he issued from top position (and an ankle lock attempt thrown in for good measure).

The second frame saw Rickels attempt to even the score with a flurry of kicks, but it wasn’t long before he was on his back. Again, though, Amoussou had little luck landing shots from the top, and the two were again stood. It soon became evident that of the two, Rickels was far fresher, and he landed a flurry of punches that prompted a desperation shot from Amoussou. There, he found little relief when Rickels locked up an armbar and forced him to slam his way out of it.

By the third frame, Amoussou’s eye was growing more ghastly by the second. He got a short reprieve when another kick went south and he got a breather. But Rickels took control upon the restart, taking top position after a scramble and dishing out a healthy dose of ground and pound that included a few double-slapping tributes to Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. Amoussou was trapped, couldn’t escape, and looked the thoroughly beaten fighter at the bell.

One judge gave Rickels (10-1 MMA, 4-1 BFC) the fight two rounds to one, but the remaining two didn’t think his late rally was enough to close the gap. The loss was his first in 11 professional fights.

“I think I’ve showed some new skills in the fight,” Amoussou said. “My judo throws finally came out in the fight. Bryan Baker, I have two months to prepare for you.”

Amoussou (15-4-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) now enjoys a three-fight win streak following a split decision loss in his Bellator debut.

Aguilar hands Fujii a second loss

The Fedor Emelianenko of women’s MMA is slipping.

In a hotly contested fight, Jessica Aguilar won a unanimous decision over Fujii to hand the top-ranked Japanese fighter just her second career loss.

All three judges saw the fight 29-28 in Aguilar’s favor. The two gave immediate respect to each other following the decision.

“This is a legend right here,” Aguilar said. “She’s going down as a legend.”

A disappointed Fujii said through a translator, “I’m going to take some time off and think about what’s next for me.”

As many expected, Aguilar’s advantage was apparent in the standup portion of the fight. Fujii was aggressive with strikes at the outset, but Aguilar’s counters frequently found their mark.

When Fujii shot under punches for a takedown, momentum swung rapidly in her favor as she locked in her favored armbar submission. But Aguilar gamely escaped the lock and returned to her feet.

Fujii turned up the heat in the standup department, charging forward with a flurry of punches. Aguilar, though, caught her again on the counter, prompting another takedown attempt that was blocked. A stiff left hand served as the biggest punch of the fight for the American, and while Fujii chased redemption, she could not find it.

Heading into the third, Aguilar told her cornerman she couldn’t see. Fujii may have been in the same boat, as she sustained a laceration under her right eye that noticeably swelled.

Fujii did her best work in the third, finding range with punches and frequent kicks. She then powered Aguilar to the mat and evaded multiple submission attempts to dish out ground and pound for the latter part of the third.

But the gap in points may have been too great.

“It’s an honor for me to compete against her and get a victory,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar (13-4 MMA, 3-1 BFC) improves to five consecutive wins following a loss to Zoila Gurgel in the semifinals of Bellator’s lone women’s 115-pound tournament.

Fujii (25-2 MMA, 3-2 BFC), meanwhile, sees a three-fight streak snapped following a loss to Gurgel in the finals of the same tourney.

Holata goes old-school on Abe Wagner

Heavyweights Mark Holata and Abe Wagner stepped in to the first televised bout of the evening when heavyweight Ron Sparks was forced to withdraw from a bout with Kevin Asplund.

Sparks battled a sinus infection in the week leading to the event and was not cleared to fight when medication he took to combat the illness raised his blood pressure above the acceptable range.

Holata made the most of the opportunity, earning a spot in the season-seven Bellator heavyweight tournament with a first-round submission over Wagner.

The end, which came when Holata cranked an old-school straight-ankle lock and caused Wagner to verbally submit, came so suddenly that confusion briefly overtook the audience.

Holata said opponents expect him to utilize ground and pound when the action hits the mat, which he briefly did after taking Wagner down. But after a few shots overhead, he dropped back into position and began working for a submission.

Wagner responded with a submission attempt of his own, but Holata had superior position and coaxed a yell of “tap” from Wagner at the 2:24 mark of the first.

“Heel hooks are right there all the time, just people overlook it,” Holata said afterward.

Holata (12-3 MMA, 3-1 BFC) returns to the winner’s circle after a first-round KO loss to Sparks in his previous outing. Wagner (10-6 MMA, 0-2 BFC) is now 1-3 since an upset win over former UFC champ Tim Sylvia under the Titan Fighting Championship banner.